Nice Outlooks

Martin Kreim at the Westphalsches Haus, Markkleeberg The view goes through glass panels and into an office. A man and a woman face each other sitting at the desk. Piles of files, computers, office plant – all there, but all kept diffuse. No clarification as to who dismisses, or just dictates to, or engages whom. The work radiates tension, it evokes curiosity and unrest. Martin Kreim is the author of the painting titled ‘Terrarium‘. The born Czech represents a contemporary, reality-based art of painting. He is among the artists who studied at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts during the 1990ies and have since gained nationwide recognition and success. Names such as Baumgärtel, Busch, Eitel, Kobe, Schnell or Weischer represent the third generation of painters that have ‘come from Leipzig’...

No narrative attitude will be found in them; instead, a moment is captured. The viewers will be left alone with their thoughts about the ‘before’ and the ‘after’. The painter will often mix his sceneries with a dash of irony. Thus, ‘Probefahrt’ (‘Test Drive’) shows a family, looking rather simple-minded, seated in the back seats of a crash test car. ‘Nice Outlooks’, as the exhibition at Markkleeberg was titled, may well be considered missing here. The passengers in the car, however, are smiling. In the figure paintings the ironic attitude stands to represent the discerning consideration of contemporaries and zeitgeist. On the other hand, views into opulent interiors with a historical touch, the cityscapes and forest paintings are brought alive by Martin Kreim’s energetic and expressive brushwork as well as the play of light and shadow. And by the well-suited colouring, be it red and green; green, ochre and brown; or black and white.

Christine D. Hoelzig
(Leipziger Volkszeitung)

CV
*1963 Kladno
1987 removal to Leipzig
1994-1995 Study, Hochschule für Kunst und Design, Burg Giebichenstein, Halle
1996 Study Painting, Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig
2000 Scholarship, Sattendorf
2001 Diplom, HGB (Klasse Prof. Sighard Gille)
2001 Kunst- und Förderpreis der Sparkasse Bayreuth
Live and works in Leipzig.

Exhibitions (Selection)
1996 Galerie im Gang, Leipzig
1996 Grafikbörse, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (p)
1999 4. Sommeratelier, Baumwollspinnerei, Leipzig (p)
2000 Klasse Gille, Galerie Timm Gierig, Frankfurt/M. (p)
2000 Theater Hagen
2001 Diplomausstellung, HGB Leipzig, Atelierhaus Rosenowstraße "second", Leipzig
2001 Hollfelder Kunstausstellung, Hollfeld (p)
2001 Klasse Gille, Landesgericht, Leipzig (p)
2001 Kunstverein Eisenturm e.V., Mainz (p)
2003 "Raumsucher", Galerie des VBK Thüringen, Haus zum bunten Löwen, Erfurt
2003 "Schöne Aussichten", Westphalsches Haus, Markkleeberg
2004 3 x junge Kunst aus Leipzig, Galerie-Forum für Malerei, Halle (p)
2005 Große Sächsische Kunstausstellung, Leipzig (p)
2006 Occupied, Galerie Artodrome, Forchheim
2007 Galerie Vera Lindbeck, Isernhagen
2007 BERLINER LISTE 07 (p)
2008 Galerie grounded, Chemnitz